Women's Hats and Bonnets

Women's hats and bonnets were produced by a
specialized worker known as a milliner. The
word 'milliner' was first recorded in 1529,
when the term referred to the products for which
Milan and the north of Italy were well known,
i.e. ribbons, gloves and straws. Those who imported
these highly popular straws were called "Millaners"
from which the word was eventually derived.
The products of a milliner represented the labors
of many specialists, such as flower makers,
feather dyers, straw braid or bonnet makers,
felt makers, ribbon and trimming makers, and
even embroiderers as well as the manufacturers
of lace, linen, cotton, and silk goods.

In the
1770’s, (when huge wigs and hairstyles were
fashionable) the ‘calash’ bonnet was worn to
protect the high hairstyles from the weather.
These collapsible bonnets were made of strips
of wood or whalebone sewn into channels of a
silk hood. A long ribbon attached to the top
front of the hood, held firmly in the hand,
allowed the wearer to hold the calash securely,
while walking in the wind.

By
1780, the wide, flattened shepherdess hat came
into fashion, as the Romantic longing for a
simpler life was extolled in poetry and prose.
It was a simple hat made of straw or chip. Straw
was generally leghorn, an Italian wheat straw.
Chip bonnets were actually made from thin strips
of shaved wood. Chip was used by hat-makers
in a similar way to braided straw, and so was
sometimes called “chip straw” or “chip braid”.
But it was still actually wood. It could be
plaited or woven, just like straw. Once formed
into whatever shape was currently fashionable,
it could be bleached or colored, then trimmed
with silk, lace, velvet, and feathers. Silk
bonnets sometimes had chip and wire sewn into
the seams, creating a framework to give them
shape. Chip braid is generally created from
White pine, Lombardy poplar, or English willow.
To make chip a young tree is split into sections
and planed smooth. A special plane of knife
blades is then drawn lengthwise down the boards,
scoring long, fine narrow cuts. A smooth plane
takes these fine strips off, which then can
be woven.

The late 1780's saw women's hats influenced by the
tall, felt French Directorate style. These tall, tapering crowned hats were sometimes called a Postilion after the riders who guided a post chaise coach, by riding one of the horses pulling the carriage, who favored them. The best
felt was derived from felted beaver fur. Less
expensive felt hats might be made of half beaver
fur and some other material such as rabbit fur
or wool.

From 1795-1810, the simple high-waisted white
muslin dresses and helmet like bonnets inspired
by ancient Roman and Greek motifs became fashionable.
Empire motiffs were inspired by the wall painting
and sculpture revealed during excavations of
the lost Roman city of Pompeii, in Italy and
books printed on the subject. Thomas Hope's
1809 book, Costume of the Ancients, influenced clothing styles, popularizing Roman and Greek designs.

Turbans became popular after Napoleon's 1802
invasion of Egypt. They were meant to appear
exotic. Turbans often included silk and expensive
metallic embroidery or brooches.

Women's hats were frequently influenced by
men's fashions. A version of a jockey cap, with
a slightly larger crown, was popular in the
Regency period. The hat was generally made of
silk, like a jockey's racing silks. Riding hats,
with a lower crown than a man's top hat, were
also popular. The postilion hat (shown above)
would also fall into this women's hats influenced
by men's wear category.

A "Poke" bonnet was a hood-shaped hat that tied
under the chin, with a small crown at the back
and a wide projecting front brim that shaded the
face. The word "poke" refers to the fact that
there is room at the back for the hair to be poked
up inside the bonnet so that the hairdo was completely
covered. It became fashionable at the beginning
of the 19th century. The size of the poke bonnet
increased until, in 1830, a woman’s face could
not be seen except from directly in front.